


Sekhmet Feeds on Sun Alone

by kaulayau



Series: Bright Red/Silver Dust (Last Words of a Shooting Star) [2]
Category: Black Panther (2018), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Compliant, I was very upset, THIS part, THISSS part
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-04
Updated: 2018-05-04
Packaged: 2019-05-01 22:03:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 751
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14530182
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kaulayau/pseuds/kaulayau
Summary: What did you imagine?





	Sekhmet Feeds on Sun Alone

**Author's Note:**

> Let's do this let's do this let's DO this. Thank you for reading!

He sees the end before it touches him, its shining, purple clouds extending their fingers, longer than forever. It is unclear — as if he does not touch the ground, does not hear its music. The Ancestral Plane has never seemed so small, so _finite_ before.

A war screams death on Wakandan soil. How much blood has shed here? How much pain?

And still he sees — the shape his father, a _panther_ , is the first to greet him, standing, an image of wisdom and courage. He feels his father’s palm on his cheek. _So soon, my son?_

Kings do not hesitate. Not even for a moment.

When they embrace, his father is smiling, and yet joy is scarce on his face. There is no return, they both know. Return from the end is a rarity. The cost is too high, even for kings.

He wants to stay. He wants to stay, but — outside, the battle is still raging. The forest, once so hospitable, scratches his skin and tears blood from his bones. Light rings in his ears. He is searching. He is searching — she — only _she_ can — she does not despair, she does not fall — she is —

 _Hey, hey, what are you doing here?_ asks his cousin, almost tauntingly. He grins, arms crossed, eyebrows raised, something tired, amused, small. _You still got more fight to give._

His cousin grabs his shoulder and shakes him, back and forth, twice, almost with — familiarity. Suddenly he wonders — what would have happened if everything was different? What would have happened if his cousin was where he should be from the start?

The world bursts and come together again, and the war is still under his feet. He has known war before, known its suffocating hands — but never like this.

Even if gods come with storms to save them, even if nature itself bends to give them strength, even if his friends — his _friends,_ so bold, so resilient — fight with all the breath in their lungs — how can they win? He as already seen the end, and its shining, purple clouds. And yet —

Kings do not doubt. Their duties never stop for them.

 _Search_ , chants the sea of his ancestors, pushing him back to the world. Yes, yes, that is what he must do — he listens, he looks for — where? The forest evades him. He must continue, he must continue — there is still time, no matter how little — there is still _time_  — if he can find one hero, _saves_ one hero, the greatest, he saves countless lives —

And from behind his father is another panther, something lighter, lithe, its eyes glowing, intelligent, wily. And — his sister, it is his _sister_ , her hair braided intricately atop her head, her face dotted with ceremonial white paint. She is more radiant than the shining, purple clouds, more beautiful than the distant horizon. She cannot be — she _cannot_ be —

She laughs like they’ve hidden a joke from their mother, and in her piercing eyes, there are tears. _It’s time,_ she says. _Well, not_ quite _yet, brother, but in a little while._ She brushes her thumb on his cheek. _Now, hurry. This corset hurts my ribs._

The air slows, ceasing, as if with the snap of two fingers. He finds her, though the forest bites at him — if he saves the greatest warrior, his greatest friend, he saves —

 _Brother?_ Shuri reaches for him. _Brother, won’t you come home already?_ He sees his father, he sees Erik, he sees his _family_  —

He sees Okoye. She does not despair. She does not fall. But he finds her _here_ — “Up, General, up!” If he saves her, he saves — if he _saves_ her, he saves — what is he fighting for — he has nothing — if he _saves_ her — the shining, purple sky — only she — only _she_  — a king does not hesitate, a king does not doubt — but he is a _man —_ his family is waiting — his sister’s outstretched hand — it becomes clearer — he sees it — and he grabs hold of the world’s greatest warrior. “This is no place to die.” Her eyes fill with — hope. There is still hope. Time is gone, and hope remains. Hope remains so long as there are those who keep it.

He turns, like ash has filled him. The Ancestral Plane is made fully known to him, and welcomes him with open arms. He takes his sister’s hand, and she beams like the sun is rising. 

And — even kings must come to pass. Every reign ends. Return, after all, is a rarity.


End file.
